What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. (Page 2): Triathlon Forum: Slowtwitch Forums

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What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon.

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Allie

Apr 6, 12 14:10

Post #26 of 111 (3809 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [AnthonyS] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Oh, I dunno about that.
My first Olympic distance was up in the hills of Boone, NC. I had done OW swims before but the distance was 1000m and I got so nervous I swam about 200m and then immediately started to panic. I recognized it, rolled over on my back and just focused on breathing.I would roll over a couple of times and breast stroke but I essentially backstroked almost 1000m and was the next to the last out of the water.

I did have some saving grace in that I can ride a bike, but still....that following Sunday my husband had purchased a kayak and we were in the lake at home weekly for me to swim 1000m. We will continue our tradition this spring :) as I am seeking retribution on that course.

I was 3rd AG and got a spiffy coffee mug. At least it was 4 deep.

prattzc

Apr 6, 12 14:47

Post #27 of 111 (3772 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Multiple:
1) decided to race in a speedo. Felt a bit self conscious, but felt the full burden of disgrace when I ran past an aid station manned by high school girls and hearing "ew, gross".

2) Clearwater 70.3, my wave about to start and I realize my wetsuit feels funny. I realize I forgot to finish getting my one piece tri suit fully one. With the one minute warning, I had to half strip, put my tri suit on and then fumble to put my wetsuit back on.

3) last year I stupidly did a sprint 4 weeks after clavicle surgery. My bike was racked in the middle of a home made PVC rack which had flexed with the weight of the other bikes. When I approached my bike in T1 I didn't have the strength in my shoulder yet to lift the rack to get my bike out and needed help from some volunteers after tugging on it for a minute or so. I'm sure I looked like an idiot unable to get my bike off the rack.

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jeremyb

Apr 6, 12 14:53

Post #28 of 111 (3762 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

i signed up for my first triathlon, an olympic distance, a week before, with a few runs under my belt.

after about 5 minutes of swimming, I got tired and began breaststroking which resulted in the lifeguards on surfboards rushing towards me asking me if I needed to be rescued ----- no thanks.

Then I got on the bike, and began drafting the first guy I saw (i had no clue that was against the rules) which got me several looks.

I thought I was killing it on the bike though, because my bike computer said I was averaging like 32 ............................. but the computer was set to kilometers per mile, not miles per hour ----- so I was really only going like 17mph.

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Quel

Apr 6, 12 15:09

Post #29 of 111 (3739 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [prattzc] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

prattzc wrote:

1) decided to race in a speedo. Felt a bit self conscious, but felt the full burden of disgrace when I ran past an aid station manned by high school girls and hearing "ew, gross".

Awesome.

Last year I rubber banded my shoes in place for the mount. Except I did the left pedal backward instead of forward like normal. I jumped on the shoe, and instead of being propelled forward the crank just spun backwards and I lost my balance and bit it. In front of lots of people.

bow66tie

Apr 6, 12 15:24

Post #30 of 111 (3723 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [vtlars] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

vtlars wrote:

I had my bike shorts on inside out. Walked around transition,parking lot,etc. and no one said a word. I was about to put my wetsuit on when I noticed they were inside out. I thought no one noticed, but EVERYONE noticed. I had a lot of explaining to do after the race !

This made me laugh so hard I had to wipe away the tears. Thanks vtlars. I needed that.

AnthonyS

Apr 6, 12 15:30

Post #31 of 111 (3715 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [Allie] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Being a bad OWS is definitely embarrassing, but I think quitting is worse. I have improved my swimming dramatically in the past 18 months though. My first Olympic is a 1500 m swim in two weeks. I probably will be out of the water mid pack. Last night in the pool I was swimming faster than someone that was significantly faster than I was 6 months ago. He was surprised.

I will be doing a lake practice next weekend too. I got my first wetsuit this week. A bad OWS can ruin your entire day. My first OWS sprint was a 750m swim. I think I swam closer to 1500m. I spent a lot of it flailing and resting on my back too. Come to think of it, my swim at the time was probably just flailing. At least now I have some propulsive motion (not as much as many others though).
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Chris Athey

Apr 6, 12 15:47

Post #32 of 111 (3685 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

My first tri was an xterra. I had the option to sign up for the sport distance which was half, but eff that I came to race, go big or go home! I never trained for the swim, I figured it's only a mile how bad is that? I can run one pretty quick. Then I saw the buoys wayyy out there. I heard wetsuits were strongly suggested so I went to the scuba shop and got a 5mil. Put it on backwards of course cause why the hell would a zipper be in the back? Everyone's telling me it's on wrong, and I remember saying "I did it on purpose for transition"(no I didn't but it sounded clever). Then got in the water to warmup. The water was dirty and I couldn't see the bottom. I'm not putting my face in that! I'm 17 at the time and our wave follows the pros. After watching them jostle I decided I'd start at the back and walk for as long as I could before I needed to actually swim. Gun goes off, I'm walking along the shore refusing to get in and swim until the last possible minute. Then I get in and start water polo crawling. I did this for about 42 minutes. Had calf cramps in both legs, it was miserable!

Then onto the bike, it's xterra remember. My parents thought oh it'll be like a smooth hiking trail. Wrong. I had a crash 2 years before which was a compound fracture and was scared to death to actually mountain bike. At the pre race meeting they had this hill they called the ramp of hell because it was so steep and rocky. My biggest regret was taking my 300 dollar bike with no suspension down that. I fell but was somehow fine. For my trisuit I had bike shorts and an underarmour top. Toe clip pedals and my run shoes in them. Well it was a loop so I had to go back up that hill. I ran it instead. I ran most of the bike course.

Into transition I pulled on a shirt with my number pinned to it. And ran a really fast run split. I think top 20 or so. So I had the races slowest swim, slowest bike and a pretty good run. It took me about 5 hours to do it. The pros were done in 2. I was 15th from last I think. They held up the awards ceremony for me. after all it's xterra and nobody 17 does this sport that young. So I felt like a king, I got a medal and a rather massive prize. I remember thinking this is so cool! I was definitely hooked.

Then next year I raced the Junior Olympics in co springs which was a draft legal event. Continued not swimming, swam a 14 minute 750. I had inflated my tires on my road bike as high as they would go at the gas station. The air pump literally couldn't add any more air. Needless to say, I'm at least 6 minutes behind the leaders when I hit the bike, bike maybe 2 miles and both tires explode. I literally thought there's no way I could lose this race because I'd been doing so well at xterra. I threw my bike on the ground and started screaming.

I have lots more. Such as drinking 4 starbucks espresso shots right before lake havasu triathlon and thinking because I ran d1 for a semester I didn't need to train. I had a really strong swim, strong bike and by the time the run hit I couldn't even slowly jog. I think I went 45+ but someone grabbed my chip in the water. They were using these really cheap chips whose straps weren't secure at all. I'm sure he probably just accidentally touched my leg and it fell off. I fumbled through my wetsuit for awhile trying to find the chip but couldn't. I even tried to find it in t2. Then of course everyone's running past me on the run and it was miserable.

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Allie

Apr 6, 12 16:07

Post #33 of 111 (3651 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [AnthonyS] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

AnthonyS wrote:

Same here. My husband said I looked like I was standing up. I pretty much was....I was so freaking tired after that race. I must have burned some serious calories thwaping in the water.

plainsman

Apr 6, 12 17:23

Post #34 of 111 (3583 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [Shg101] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I did that too! After only doing triathlon, I did my first du this year. After a great run (by my standards, only mediocre by most) I got to the mount line to discover I was still wearing my running shoes. Had to run back through transition and change shoes. It did motivate me on the bike though. My wife and the RD were standing right at the mount line when it happened. It was a very small race though, and also the first time I've ever placed.

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RoYe

Apr 6, 12 17:33

Post #35 of 111 (3568 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [timboricki] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

timboricki wrote:

In my first OD tri 5 years ago. I was (and still am) a horrible swimmer.
There is a picture of me coming out of the water right behind a lady with 1 leg. I think she started a wave or 2 behind me. She had time to pass me, get out of the water and get on crutches before I could crawl up the ramp.
I sometime think that I might be a faster swimmer with one leg becuase my kick really does nothing for me.

My 1st two tri's, I finished dead last in the swim [passed a lot of people to finish MOP but still, last is awful]. My 3rd race I came out of the swim 2nd from last, I was SO HAPPY in T1 that I went to high 5 the guy I beat; only then did I realize the guy had only 1 hand!
DOOoooh
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realAlbertan

Apr 6, 12 17:43

Post #36 of 111 (3543 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [cjathey] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Last guy not lapped off the Victoria ITU race in 2003...
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Chris Athey

Apr 6, 12 17:59

Post #37 of 111 (3517 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [realAlbertan] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Musta been one helluva biker!

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realAlbertan

Apr 6, 12 18:02

Post #38 of 111 (3508 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [cjathey] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

On my 2nd last lap I watched SqW lap a few guys and I hammered it ...
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AutomaticJack

Apr 6, 12 18:08

Post #39 of 111 (3496 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Not to me, actually, but...

2009 Great South Bay Sprint. Standing at the swim start watching the first wave getting ready to start and noticed the woman beside me wearing her wetsuit backwards (zipper in front). I told her she had it on backwards and pointed out a woman with the same wetsuit on correctly. She started to panic and it told her to relax. She had 3 minutes before her wave went, just take it off and put it on correctly, I would help. That's when said "but I'm not wearing anything under it." I was dumb-founded. I asked what she was going to do in T1. She told me she had read on line that there was a tent for changing at Ironman events.

Gross Conceptual Error. She walked off and I didn't see her again. Not sure what she did.

3X-VO2-LT-FTP

Apr 6, 12 18:37

Post #40 of 111 (3460 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [AutomaticJack] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

First TRI 4 years ago I thought I was a BAMF! Thought I had crushed the swim, and holding my own on the bike. Then a guy on an old school bike passes me. All I saw was his calf and it had a 72 on it. His wave started 8 minutes behind me and it was a sprint!!!!!
Please forgive typo's and poor grammer. Most posting performed on my not so smart phone.

BCtriguy1

Apr 6, 12 18:51

Post #41 of 111 (3446 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [AutomaticJack] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

AutomaticJack wrote:

WOW, that's a good one. But hey, at least she found out then before coming out of the water and finding out she was SOL...

There are some great stories here.

rhythmqueen

Apr 6, 12 22:36

Post #42 of 111 (3344 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

A few years ago, my friend and I arrived ridiculously late to a sprint tri( it was his fault,he had been out womanizing all night). We get there and see swimmers bobbing around in the lake (it was a mass start). We threw all our gear on the ground ,stationed my two daughters nearby to watch our stuff and continuing bickering and trading barbs as we ran down to the lake. I was so angry, I demolished the swim, grabbed stuff hastily out of my bag and headed out on the bike. I was still pretty steamed so it took 11 miles to realize there was an intense throbbing pain at the bottom of my left foot. Made a mental note to complain about the new bike shoes I had purchased the week before. It all made sense when I passed an older woman who was clapping and cheering for the racers. It was strange, it was like an old silent movie, I couldn't hear any sound. Then it dawned on me! I wear two hearing aids-before the swim I had ripped them off and shoved them into the bottom of my bike shoe. I had just proceeded to do the bike leg with them still inside the shoe. Luckily,they still worked when I rolled into t2.

(This post was edited by rhythmqueen on Apr 6, 12 22:39)

markvoss

Apr 7, 12 8:08

Post #43 of 111 (3151 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I'll count this as a Multisport race since in 1989 I ran a Track 5,000 meters in spikes at 10:45 AM in one city then jumped in the car and drove 45 minutes to another city to make my 11:47 AM Bicycle 10 Mile Time Trial start. The race organizers were aware of my time crunch but refused to do anything about the Random start times (I was slotted to start second). However, they graciously reserved a parking spot right next to the Time Trial Start exclusively for me. :-O

After the 5,000 meters I changed into cycling shorts, jersey, and slipped on my brand new AVENIR cycling shoes with SAMPSON clipless pedal cleats in the car while I drove alone and staved off the crazy hamstring cramps. I arrived at the Time Trial at 11:42 AM and was directed to my special parking spot. To the officials' dismay I didn't exit the car for three minutes... as I was clipped into the car's Brake Pedal and was suffering another hamstring cramp. I finally got my foot out of the shoe and was able to slide the cleat sideways enough to dislodge it from the pedal--the brake pedal. So in another flurry of adrenaline I flung the car door open, grabbed my bike from the back seat...

And realized I was at the Start without a BACK wheel. I had removed it from the Wind Trainer the night before. And nobody at the Start had a compatible 6-12 speed replacement wheel.

FAIL.

JollyRogers

Apr 7, 12 8:30

Post #44 of 111 (3123 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Ran to the bike mount line at a duathlon (R/B/R) and hopped on. Lots of trouble getting into the left pedal (always the second pedal for me). After several futile stabs at it, I look down and see a cleat cover (Look) still on the shoe. Managed to get the cleat cover off and into my tri top pocket without dumping the bike, but I was certainly a hazard to those around me.

mck414

Apr 7, 12 8:34

Post #45 of 111 (3114 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [JollyRogers] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Carlsbad triathlon last year, pulled off a flying mount and got my left foot in my shoe just fine. Not so much for the right shoe. Instead of trying to slip my foot in at the top of the pedal stroke I tried it at the bottom of the pedal stroke. I somehow managed to pole vault my shoe into the ground which naturally unclipped it from the pedal and launched it off into the wildly cheering crowd.

Luckily a kind soul pick it up and brought it to me as I was furiously scouring the side of the road looking for my shoe..
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tigerchik

Apr 7, 12 8:36

Post #46 of 111 (3111 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [hillier99] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I have told this story before but it's fun to repeat.

My first HIM, I didn't think about how I would get from my swimsuit into my cycling clothes. (I didn't know there are outfits made for the whole race, like a tri suit). I swam, got into T1, and suddenly realized there was no place to change - except the transition area, that is. So I stripped in T1.
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FLTerp

Apr 7, 12 8:50

Post #47 of 111 (3091 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Bright idea for my first HIM 10 years ago- Let me see, my trishorts were great for the swim and the run but not enough chamois for the bike (way before finding the right seat, getting fit and HTFUing). I know how to fix this! I will put my cycling shorts on over my trishorts for the ride, problem solved. No need to test out this theory prior to race day. I mean, what could go wrong??

Holy balls of fire that was miserable. Between the comments made in transition, the biblical amount of rash, and my race day pictures showing some moron wearing 2 pairs of shorts on his bike (sans smile), it was a mess. Good times.

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Runner Rick

Apr 7, 12 9:07

Post #48 of 111 (3073 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [tigerchik] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

In my first OWS sprint tri, my run time was faster than my swim time.

Not shockingly, in my first Oly distance tri, my run time killed my swim time. Officially my time was dead last (men and women). I did finish ahead of one guy but he DNF'd later in the race.
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veganerd

Apr 7, 12 9:17

Post #49 of 111 (3063 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [chrisbint] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

the first time i was ever in contention for a podium spot, i came roarin around the corner into t2 in 6th place overall to wild cheers from my family and my buddys family and i was so pumped to fly through transition in record time and as i went ripping towards the run course i hear a ton of laughs and the announcer say "i dont think youre going to need that helmet on the run" DOH! i tossed it aside as i ran and did manage to make the podium.

when i was called up to get my medal he again made fun of me to the delight of the crowd.

good times!

also even more embarrassing, at my favorite oly race a couple years back, i was nursing a cold but went ahead with the race anyways and as i left t1 i noticed a guy put his areo helmet on backwards, i shouted to him a friendly heads up but he gave me a puzzled look and took off on the bike anyway. i laughed to myself and laughed again when 24 miles later he passed me going into t2 with his helmet tail leading the way.

enemy of epilepsy

tridana

Apr 7, 12 9:23

Post #50 of 111 (3055 views)

Re: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in a triathlon. [FLTerp] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

FLTerp wrote:

Winner! I am sorry for you, but thank you for the laugh!
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